


Timor Eius - The Fear Of

by midnight_alice__x



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Boggarts, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fear, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter), dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:21:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29308710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnight_alice__x/pseuds/midnight_alice__x
Summary: Fear is weakness, and one must be able to overcome any fear to gain power. Bellatrix has drilled this into the brain of Draco Malfoy. In his 6th year, Draco has been marked by the death eaters. As part of his training, he has been given a boggart with one instruction, do not return from Hogwarts with any fear left that he couldn’t react to quickly. He would be forced to overcome each fear, until he could react with lightning speed. Everything was going well, Draco is beginning to learn occlumency, shutting all the distractions out ready to take on the task he was chosen for. What happens though, when the brightest witch of her age begins to see through his shields?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Timor Eius - The Fear Of

Another year back at Hogwarts. The hallways were the same, the paintings were the same, the candlelit ceilings were the same. Everything, just the fucking same. Identical to how it had been many years before, when the corridors were full of light laughter from people whose biggest problem was when they would turn in their OWLS or what alcove they could hide in to sneak around with their peers. Draco Malfoy knew that all of that was futile now.

It was only a few weeks into the new year, and there was already an eery atmosphere whenever you travelled through these sanctified hallways now. It seemed even the portraits littered across the walls had strained facial expressions. Whilst there were still those trying to act normal, attempts at a semblance of order were ineffectual. Everyone knew deep down that over the past year everything was changing, and perhaps nobody knew better than Draco, the extent of the threat that was looming around the corner.

He had been here what felt like hundreds of times before, even though it had only been the few times he could escape so far without raising suspicions. That's what he would tell himself anyway, but maybe it had something to do with the dread he felt at the task that lay before him that preventing his feet from taking him to this room. Or even worse yet, the anticipation of what task he would get next once he succeeded and his training was deemed complete.

He yanked off the silk curtain draped over it and dragged the large oak trunk along the floor until it was in the centre of the space he had cleared within the cluttered room. His piercing silver eyes felt vacant as they gazed upon the box. Every sense was alive, tingling throughout his skin as he could hear the faint hum of the contents inside the chest. It felt as If there were vibrations echoing through the floorboards, daring him to move from his frozen stature and interrupt their flow.

He stood, frozen, like ice had travelled right though his whole body. He clenched his fists as to stop them from shaking. Slowly, he braced himself, taking a deep sigh as he prepared for what was to come.

His eyes squeezed tightly shut. His breath was beginning to catch in his throat as he took in short and sharp inhalations. A bead of sweat was starting to manifest across his forehead as he braced himself. He knew what he had to do, and he knew that he had to dive into it without a moment of hesitation.

"The Boggart has not yet assumed a form; he does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone"

The quote from Professor Lupin echoed in his head. Nobody knows what the boggart looks like when it is alone. That line always reverberated through Draco's mind. It was fucking poetic, he thought to himself. Maybe he was more like the boggart than any of his class mates these days. It may not have been long, but already Draco had been more familiar with the shadows of the Hogwarts corridors than what was going on with any of his friends this year. He knew Pansy was beginning to notice it, as if she wouldn't when she tried to follow him around like a little lapdog. Heck, even the train ride here was bloody painful listening to her whining on about some other crush or what not that she usually bleats on about to get his attention. Truth be told, Draco certainly had not been listening. He had much more important matters to attend to than the lowly gossip of Hogwarts halls, specifically, what awaited him within the trunk at his feet.

The trunk had posed a problem even before he managed to step into the halls this year. He remembers the vivid look on his Aunt Bellatrix's as she levitated the box towards him.

"Dracooo..." she had hissed into his ear. Her black spirally hair tickling the side of his neck. "You have been chosen, and it is not something you should take lightly my boy".

When he thought about it, he could still feel her breath on the back of his neck as she hissed around him, alternating which ear she directed her languid instructions into. It was as if ice had crawled up his spine as he listened to her sultry voice.

"Take the box with you. As we discussed, you know what is inside". He pressed his lips together as the box rattled suspended in mid-air. He nodded sharply.

"And I'm sure you know that you need to become the best version of yourself to serve the dark lord effectively now don't you Draco"

A huge cackle then exploded from her as she dropped the levitation charm, sending tremors across the timeworn oak floors as the trunk slammed down at Draco's feet. Bellatrix's eyes were wide and frantic, a huge grin across her face as she began jumping up and down in merriment.

Draco sighed, meeting Bellatrix's eyes with a determined expression. He transfigured the trunk into a smaller version, easier to transport it where it needs to go and placed it in his pocket. He could feel the thrum of the vibrations at his side, a consistent reminder of the task that lay ahead.

"I won't let him down; I won't fail my mission." He remembers speaking with a steely resolve as he turned away. Bellatrix has always been, for better words, a loose cannon. He knew meant every word, but it did nothing to ease the underlying fear palpitating through his veins. And it definitely did not mean he had to stay in her company for any longer than absolutely necessary.

That brings him to where he stands now. Among a chasm of objects strewn in large piles across every corner of empty space. To the only place within the hallowed halls that one could hide with nobody knowing where you are and what you are up to.

The room of requirement. Oh, the irony of the fact that he may not have found it had it not been for fucking Cho Chang of all people selling out the 'Army' of fuckwits that gathered here last year. Dumbledores Army. He could still picture Saint Potter acting all high and mighty, thinking he's some sort of know it all that could actually raise anything that resembled an army. Maybe he could raise a crowd of desperate simpletons who only know how to use 'Expelliarmus', but certainly not an army. 

His mind often did this, relaying over facts and situations that are truly irrelevant to what was in front of him, in an effort to delay the inevitable situation he needed to dive headfirst into. In order to distract him from it, as well as from the itch he could feel across his wrist beneath his shirt. So many sensations, accumulating in a large throbbing feeling in his mind as he gripped his wand so tightly that his knuckles were turning even whiter than his pale skin. 

He knew it was dangerous to face a boggart alone. Should his fears truly overcome him, he would have little room to escape. Then what would he be reduced to, possibly the reason a boggart started to terrorise the students within the halls. Draco recalled from Lupins lessons, about the time a boggart had tried to morph into two peoples fears at once, half a slug and half a headless corpse. That would certainly be interesting if it escaped into the crowds at Hogwarts. Perhaps it could find Potter and his two little followers and morph into a dementor again. 

That surely would be interesting. Draco laughed as he imagined the thought of maybe seeing Potter faint again, just as he once had the very year they learnt about boggarts. That was something that Draco was gutted to have missed out on a front row seat for. It would be even better yet if it could morph into half a giant spider to scare off the Weasel too. Heck, Draco would consider letting it out himself if that's the outcome it would lead to. 

And what about the last member of the golden trio, Gryffindor's golden girl, Hermione Granger. He assumed her only fear would be not getting an outstanding on her OWLS. He recalled her panic after their lesson on boggarts those years ago, near crying over McGonagall giving her an F. Pathetic. Imagine that being the least of your problems. She truly was possibly the most insufferable of the triad, and that's what made it so annoying she was perhaps the reason he was able to continue his training here in solitude. 

A shimmering pebble was seated inside Draco's pocket, with a milk white hue permeating through it. Certainly the only useful thing that he had learnt from the golden girl, as much as he loathed to admit it, it was enchanted with a protean charm. After the raise of Dumbledores army of dimwits in this very room, Chang had dropped a rather interesting coin that attracted Draco's attention. After a few diagnostic spells, Draco knew what it was. It was charmed to emit heat when a message was being sent through a protean charm. Though he hadn't felt it burn since acquiring it, he was certain that that was how the bunch of miscreants had been arranging their heedless meetings anyway.

He was sure that conducting the charm was beyond their reach of capabilities of most people in that group. He had been certain that the smarmy frizzy haired girl must have come up with it. "The Brightest Witch of Her Age". He could picture her screwing her obnoxious face with such satisfaction after pulling off such a complicated charm. It may have seemed useless to him now in its lifeless form, but he clung onto the artefact. He was sure that they'd change their system knowing that a loose coin was out there, but he held on to it just in case they truly were such a crowd of dimwits that they wouldn't. If that happened, he could gain an upper hand as to whatever they were planning.

Anyway, it was the only useful thing that he had exploited from Gryffindors Princess, as he utilised the magic on two milky stones of iridescent opal that would allow him to complete his training in peace. "The Brightest Witch" would probably be stunned to know she was not the only person capable of such complex magic, maybe that could be something he could use to shock her should she ever try anything with him again. Sometimes he still felt the sting of her punching him in the face during their third year, and chance would be a fine thing if he ever let her get an upper hand on him again. 

Bellatrix had been practically manic at the opportunity to train Draco to move up the ranks this summer at the Manor, and boggarts were one of her favourite tools to use.

"Fear is weakness Draco; you need to train yourself better than this!" She would bellow at him as he shook in front of her cabinet.

"Fear is weakness, Fear is weakness, Fear is weakness"

The mantra repeated over and over again in his head. Drilled into him. If he hadn't performed to her liking, she was not against a light crucio to really drill the message into his brain. His hands still twitched occasionally remembering the pain reverberating through his body.

"It was for the best, dearest, you'll do better next time" She would say.

Her mania reached new heights as she panicked thinking of ways to carry on the training whilst Draco went back to study in Hogwarts.

"He's not good enough! How can he do the Dark Lords bidding when he still has three fears in that blasted thing that leave him shaking like a pathetic dog?" She screeched, slamming her fists against the table at the meeting.

It was concluded that he had to take the boggart with him and continue his training, but the next problem was that she was being frantic over her inability be there and 'ensure his success'. Draco knew he had to prove himself, and in an effort to show that he would and to show his willingness and dedication to the task, he suggested the protean charm. Two milky iridescent opals that when tapped three times, would heat up and signify that Draco needed help. The second stone was bestowed to Snape, as the person closest in proximity should Draco need to light the charm.

Bellatrix had gleefully laughed, satisfied that Draco was eager to prepare himself. Draco, however, was very much certain that hell would freeze over before he tapped that stone and called for Snape of all people to come for help. He didn't want more people than necessary knowing the contents of this trunk, specifically the contents when Draco was gazing into it. He knew he could do this on his own. He didn't need anything whatsoever from anyone else. He comprehensively knew what he had to do, and anyone else's interference was nothing but an unwanted distraction.

With that thought, he shook his head sharply. He knew he had delayed for too long. If he took any longer returning to the dungeons it would raise more suspicion than necessary. He bent down and gripped the two clasps on the trunk, and with a deep inhalation, he clicked them open.

The dark matter flung out of the case and leaned towards him as it had many times before, immediately figuring out the blond boy that stood before it. It got right inside his head. Inside the head of the boy who did not want anyone in there. Draco shot up his occlumency shields, something he had been practicing since news of the dark lords revival began circulating two years ago, in an effort to keep the boggart away for as long as possible. His eyes grew wide and frantic as he tried to shove his fears in a small folder and bury it deeper and deeper into his mind.

Of-course it did not work, because he could already see the pale pointed face that he had already anticipated before him.

"Fuck!" he shouted as the being crept closer to him, its cold grey eyes narrowing into his mind as its fingers grasped the cold silver snake head wrapped on top of its cane. The air of superiority rang through the icy atmosphere in the hidden room.

Draco knew what he had to do. The hesitation was what got him the bloody curses in the first place, that was what he needed to control before he was in the presence of his aunt again.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Riddikulus!" at the being. Nothing happened. The manifestation of Lucius Malfoy was raising his cane as his menacing eyes bore down on the young boy.

"Riddikulus, Riddikulus, Riddikulus!" Draco was frantically shaking his wand at the sentient being. His eyes were wide, and he was physically shaking. He took a step back, difficult to do given that there were piles of junk surrounding him, but in the effort to gauge as much space between him and his father as possible. 

He quickly grew angry and frustrated, and just as the manifestation had his cane high above his head. Just as it was about to come down upon him, he shouted "Stupefy!" at it. A bright red light jetted out of his wand, stunning the man before him. That was the only useful thing about boggarts, they took on the weaknesses of the fear they manifested, and luckily for Draco, his father certainly was poor at duelling. He took a deep breath and levitated the figure, slamming it back into the trunk.

Bellatrix hated it when he would rely on that, shouting at him that he was weak. Pathetic. He was sure she got some glee out of even seeing that Lucius was one of Draco's fears. Getting creative had been necessary, and at least it was a sure-fire way to get the boggart away before it could snap into the other fears it often manifested. Those were something for another day, because all Draco wanted to do now was get as far away as possible.

"Fear is fucking weakness" He muttered to himself as he shoved the trunk away, quickly turning on his heel and departing the crowded room.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N
> 
> I doubt anyone will come across this seeing as its in the very early stages - if so I am aiming for a chapter a week and I have some exciting plans for it, I would love any feedback :) 
> 
> What do you think of the premise of this?:)
> 
> Alice


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